


The Neville & Luna Yule Ball Diaries

by sandypenguin6



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Love at First Sight, help this is my first ao3 post i don't know how to tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-24
Updated: 2018-04-24
Packaged: 2019-04-27 13:21:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 9,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14426292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sandypenguin6/pseuds/sandypenguin6
Summary: Neville and Luna want their Yule Ball experience to be something the will never forget...but things don't always go as planned...Originally posted to fanfiction.net from May 25-October 10 2012





	1. Matthew Turner

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Enjoy an old classic of mine that got some good traffic on fanfiction.net quite a few years ago!

The Yule Ball was supposed to be a time of enjoyment and “well-mannered frivolity”. A time where all of the three wizarding schools in the Triwizard Tournament could come together for the holidays and laugh and dance and go crazy. Luna Lovegood only went to be polite.

Luna attended the Yule Ball with a nice-looking boy from Beauxbatons Academy. This was her first date, and it did not go as she planned…

“Um…excuse me?” A Beauxbatons boy had walked up to Luna and was now rocking back and forth on his heels in front of her, steeling himself to say something.  
“Yes?” asked Luna. She was sitting outside in the courtyard, doing her charms homework. Even though it was the dead of winter and the wind was blowing ferociously in her face, Luna enjoyed the solitude and it seemed that she was the only one who did.

The boy raised his thick black scarf up to his chin. “I was…well…I was just…erm-”

“Wrackspurt got you?” Luna could tell the signs of Wrackspurt infestation in the human mind and this boy definitely had some floating around in his head.

“No.” The boy pretended not to notice the divergent in the conversation and sighed. “Look, I’ve already asked two girls from Hogwarts and they said they already had dates.” He adjusted the fingers on his black leather gloves. “You’re a pretty girl so I was wondering…” The boy was momentarily distracted by Luna putting her wand behind her left ear before continuing. “Would you please go to the Yule Ball with me?”

“Alright,” said Luna. She was not much for dancing but she decided that since this boy needed a date for the ball so badly she would oblige.

“Alright.” The boy did not seem overly enthused, as a boy should be when he asks a girl out. He just stood there as if he had just presented a long boring speech and was happy to get it off his chest. “My name’s Matthew Turner. I guess we should know each other’s names before we go to a social event together, right?”

“I suppose,” said Luna, staring up over Matthew’s shoulder to stare at a large clump of snowflakes gliding down towards the ground in her trademark dreamlike state. “My name’s Luna Lovegood. Why don’t you have a French accent?” She continued to stare over his shoulder but she really was curious. Seeing as he went to a French school was odd that he didn’t have an accent.

“Oh, yeah. Well, my mum’s French and my dad’s a Brit. I live with my dad, but my mum wanted me to go to the school she went to: Beauxbatons.”

“I live with my dad too,” said Luna, finally turning her protuberant eyes to Matthew’s face. He had short, honey-blonde hair with sharp hazel eyes and a long pointed nose. He had full lips that Luna was sure some girls dreamed about snogging many a night. But Luna was not attracted by the outward appearance of a man. She looked for humility, bravery and loyalty. But she was doing Matthew a favour, so she guessed that this didn’t really count as a date. “My mum doesn’t live with us because she-”

“Sorry, Lydia,” said Matthew, who at this point was staring at a few Hufflepuff girls walking towards the castle. “That sounds fascinating but I have to get going. Meet me by the front doors tomorrow night at seven. Goodbye!” He ran off and greeted the two Hufflepuffs with a jovial “Hello, ladies!” The two girls, whom Luna now recognised as Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones, giggled and Hannah playfully punched Matthew in the shoulder.

“Oh. Alright.” Luna mumbled as she put her charms homework back into her bag and headed towards the dormitories. “And my name is Luna,” she whispered to the ground.

Luna thought that the boy was a bit pompous and full of himself and he certainly knew the affect he had on teenage girls. And she was definitely worried about catching some of those Wrackspurts in his head.

But she couldn’t help wondering if there was even a boy out there who would talk with her and get to know her. Who wouldbefriend her. Who would love her.


	2. The Impossible Task

Potions class was coming to an end, thank Merlin. Neville stared at his Poison Antidote Test where he had barely written anything down. Snape walked past his desk, snuck a peek at Neville’s answers and clicked his tongue with disappointment. Well that’s nothing new. Snape always made sure that Neville could never improve his potion-making abilities.

But there was a much more pressing matter to deal with: asking a girl to the Yule Ball. Neville wasn’t very good at talking to people, especially girls! But Neville decided that he would ask Hermione. Sure she’d probably rather go with Harry or Ron or, let’s face it, any other boy. But she’d helped Neville out of loads of bad situations, mainly concerning Potions. If she said yes, then they would go together as friends. If she said no, then that was that. He didn’t know who else to ask.

“Quills down,” Neville heard Snape’s drawling voice command. Even though Neville’s quill was already down, he looked up. “Put your tests on my desk. But from what I saw of some of these tests, I won’t even bother marking certain ones.” Snape glanced in Neville’s direction as Draco Malfoy and the other Slytherins cackled. Neville turned beet red and hung his head. It was hard to have any self-esteem when your Potions teacher hates you for unknown reasons and wants to openly mock you in front of the entire class.

But now it was time. Yes, the moment had arrived. He, Neville, was going to ask her, Hermione, to the Yule Ball.

As the class packed up their things and grabbed their cauldrons, Neville hung back and made quite a fashion of loading his books into his bag. He saw Harry say something frantically to his two best friends before sprinting out the door. Ron waved to Hermione and said something with the same expression on his face that Neville and Harry both had.

They were all going to ask girls to the Ball.

Neville walked up to Hermione and tapped her on the shoulder. She was bent down picking up a few spilled ingredients and throwing them into the waste bin. “Oh hello Neville. Is there something you needed to ask me?” She always assumed he needed help with a project or assignment or essay. The sad thing was that, most of the time, she was right.

“Actually, there…there is…” his voice trailed away as they walked out of the dungeons and up the winding staircase.

“Well?” asked Hermione, looking slightly confused. Her eyebrows knit together and her eyes became wide with concern. “What is it?” she asked with a tiny disbelieving chuckle at the end. Neville never had a problem talking to her before.

“Ok…Do you – uh – I mean are you…” He couldn’t do it. It was as simple as that.

“What is it, Neville? You can ask me anything.” Neville felt as if she was taking on the role of a parent soothing her child. But how would he know since his parents…

“Hermione.” Neville began to give himself an inner pep talk. You’re a Gryffindor, Neville, a Gryffindor! Where dwell thebrave at heart. Well, I must be brave WAY down in the heart or else the Sorting Hat would not have insisted in my house placement. “I wanted to ask you…if maybe you could…” SPIT IT OUT!Neville breathed deeply and did just that. “Do you want to go to the Ball with me?”

By now they had stopped on the staircase and students were passing them by. Hermione looked very taken aback. Eyes wider than before, her mouth hung slightly open. Neville mentally crossed his fingers…

“Oh wow. Oh my. Gee, Neville I’m really sorry. But…someone’s already asked me.”

Neville felt as though he had been hexed with the full body-bind. He couldn’t move a muscle. “I…er…that’s alright.” He said in a quiet voice.

“You sure?” Hermione looked slightly wary. As if he was going to run away crying at any moment. Truth be told he would’ve three years ago.

“Yes, that’s perfectly fine.” Neville didn’t even know why he wanted to go to this stupid Ball anyways. Asking girls out was a lot more trouble than it was worth.

“So…who’re you going with? Harry?”

“No.”

“Ron?”

“Oh, Merlin no! It’s um…a surprise.” She walked down the hallway away from him.

“Yeah, ok.” Neville mumbled to thin air. Suddenly he saw a streak of ginger hair rush past him and saw his friend Ginny walking quickly in the opposite direction that Hermione had taken.

“Hey, Ginny,” he said, catching up to her. She had her head bowed and looked slightly crest-fallen. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Huh? Oh nothing.” She seemed a bit out of it. “It’s just that I’m not old enough to go to the Yule Ball and it seems like everyone’s got a date and I really wanted him to ask, but why would he?” Now she’s really talking more to herself, Neville thought, but I’ll just stay and look concerned. That’s what Uncle Algie told me about dealing with distressed girls.“…I can’t even speak clearly around him. Why the hell would I think he’d show the slightest bit of interest?”

Neville started to get nervous. When Ginny got angry, she really got angry! He panicked, and the words were out of his mouth before he could stop himself.  
“Do you want to go with me?”

“What?” Ginny’s expression softened as she stared up at him with her big brown eyes. Most boys would find her gaze attractive; even though she was only thirteen she had the flirtatious look down pat. Neville loved that even though Ginny could be friends with anybody in the whole school, she hung out with him a lot. They were friends. That’s all Neville hoped for.

“The Yule Ball. Do you want to go with me?”

“Ok!” Ginny’s face lit up like the Christmas trees in the Great Hall. “Yes! Thank you, Neville!” She hugged him tightly. So tightly that Neville felt sure that he would pass out from lack of oxygen.

“Oh – stop!” Ginny let go and apologised. “No, actually I just asked Hermione. And she said she was already going with someone else, but she wouldn’t tell me who.”

“Oh, I know who she’s going with,” Ginny said loftily. “But-” she said as he opened his mouth to ask, “I’m not telling you! It’s her business. See ya later! Hope you’ve got a good pair of dress robes!” She was walking away from him backwards giving him a wink before she turned and walked away.

Well, there’s that taken care of. But he and Ginny were just going as friends. He was unfazed by her wink, as he normally was to all of her instinctive flirtatious advances which she imposed onto any male at Hogwarts. Well, everyone except Harry. But Neville wondered, as he walked towards the Great Hall for dinner, if a girl would even consider going out with him as something more than friends.

Remembering all of the stupid things he’d ever said or done, he answered his own question:

Surely not.


	3. Getting Ready

Luna had written to her father straight away after she was asked to the ball. He sent her a letter (highlighting the fact that the house was lonely without her and that the Freshwater Plimpies missed her) along with a dress. It was midnight blue and came down just below her knees. The elbow-length sleeves and bodice were covered in sparkles and the skirt was made up almost entirely of feathers. One of Luna’s dorm mates said that she’d look like a bedazzled bluebird, but Luna didn’t care in the slightest. Most of her roommates weren’t going to the ball because they weren’t old enough so they were probably a bit sour. Or they were just making fun of her as usual. 

Neville’s dress robes were about two sizes to big! He’d told Gran that he’d slimmed down over the summer. He’d look ridiculous, but no one really paid him much attention anyway. But Ginny would notice. Even though he wasn’t really interested in her that way he still didn’t want her to feel too ashamed of going to the ball with him. 

Neville was much more excited about this event than he led on. Alone in the dorms he could be seen waltzing with an invisible partner wearing nothing but his pyjamas and new dress shoes. He probably wasn’t very good, but dancing was one way he let go of the insecurities that had plagued him. From his gran constantly comparing him to his parents, to Draco Malfoy relentlessly picking on him.But tonight, he could be free…he hoped.

Luna crept down the stairs of her dormitory wearing her new dress. Not a soul noticed her, not even when she had feathers covering her thighs. A girl one year ahead of her, Padma Patil, was telling anyone who passed that she was going to the ball with Harry Potter’s best friend. She was obviously in a rush to impress, not Harry’s friend, but Harry himself. Luna wondered what it would be like to be so young and yet be a Hogwarts Champion. To compete against other witches and wizards who have obviously matured and studied more. How daunting that would be, she thought to herself. Poor Harry…

In her daze she bumped into Padma, who was looking flustered as she flattened nonexistent wrinkles from her dress.

“So sorry, Padma,” said Luna, staring at Padma’s dress, trying to see the wrinkles that she was obviously so frustrated about.

“Oh Luna, a Matthew Turner said for you to meet him down by the entrance of the Great Hall.”

“Thank you. I’ll go straight down.” As Luna turned her back on Padma and descended the winding staircase she knew that she was excited for the ball; but she also knew that she was not excited to spend the night with Matthew Turner. It wasn’t too much to ask to have a date who remembered your name, or who didn’t have seven Wrackspurts flying around in his head.

Neville met Ginny in the common room. Both were a little nervous and awkward. Neville tripped getting up from his chair trying to reach her. She giggled as she helped him up, red faced. She was wearing a little black dress which obviously wasn’t new, but that was alright. Neither of them were there to make a fashion statement, they were there to have fun. Neville told Ginny shyly that he hoped he wouldn’t ruin Ginny’s night. She replied awkwardly that she didn’t really care just as long as she was there. They walked to the portrait hole and looked into each other’s faces.

“Ready?” she asked.

“Sure,” he replied uncertainly.

They pushed open the portrait and made their way towards the Great Hall.


	4. His Glowing Angel

Luna felt lost in a sea of faces. She walked with the crowd towards the enormous double doors that led to the wonderfully decorated Great Hall. Some of the feathers were detaching themselves from her skirt leaving blue fluffs in her wake, like she was gliding on a troop of storm clouds towards the demise which was dancing. Luna couldn’t dance. It was as simple as that. It’s not that she wasn’t able to learn, but she’d never had an interest. Most of the dance moves she kept in her arsenal were too…different for others to watch…

Snapping out of her train of thought she looked around. Matthew Turner was nowhere to be found. Luna simply smoothed down her skirt (letting more feathers loose onto the ground at her feet) and leaned up against the wall right next to the entrance to the Great Hall. She pressed her back into the wall as students shoved to be one of the first to see the magnificent decorations. Hopefully Matthew Turner would not be too late. Luna wanted to people-watch (which meant checking people’s heads for Wrackspurts for her!).

Neville walked through the mass of students with a purpose. His purpose was to not care about what anyone else thought of him. Tonight was just about making himself…and his date…happy. Even if she was just a friend and he wasn’t really trying to impress her, he still didn’t want her to be bored all night. His grandmother taught him many things, but of the most important is how to be a gentleman. He was almost to the Great Hall now. He was tugging on Ginny’s arm so hard she was struggling to keep up. They drew many eyes as they walked closer and closer to the doors.

Then Neville tripped and took Ginny down with him. Everyone just stared, which was even more humiliating then if they were all roaring with laughter. With the left side of his face pressed to the floor Neville noticed a pair of dark blue flats making their way towards him…

“Are you two alright?” a soft, dreamy voice asked. Neville felt slight pressure under his arm that he obeyed. He slowly rose to his feet with Ginny at his side.

“Thanks, Luna,” said Ginny, wiping some of the dirt off of her dress. Neville felt even more humiliated now for Ginny’s sake. She was obviously regretting going to the Ball with him now, if not before the tumble. “Oh! Introductions! Luna Lovegood, this is Neville Longbottom. He’s a year older than me and he’s…er…my date, I guess. We’re just friends!” Ginny added quickly, as if she would be embarrassed if anyone thought that she and Neville were actually dating. Neville turned looked into the stranger’s face.

Neville had never seen an angel before; but if he did he was certain that it would look exactly like the small girl standing before him. Her pale skin contrasted greatly with her dark coloured dress. Her long, light hair fell into her wide, bright eyes looking up into his face. Her skin, eyes and hair seemed to give off a faint glow. She was radiant, angelic.

Neville started blushing furiously and his knees seemed to turn to jelly. He mumbled an inaudible “hello” as he suddenly seemed to become very entranced with his new shoes.

“And Neville, this is Luna. She’s in my year, but in Ravenclaw.” Luna continued to stare at this shy boy she’d just met. He was acting very strangely. She checked his head for Wrackspurts…nope. Not one Wrackspurt was in his brain. Then why was he acting so odd? Maybe there was a creature that made you unintelligible and turned your face red…She would have to ask her dad if he’s heard of-

“So Luna,” Ginny interrupted Luna’s train of thought. “You’re still thirteen, right?” Luna nodded, not taking her eyes off of Neville. “Then that means that an older boy must’ve asked you! Who was it?”

“His name’s Matthew Turner. He goes to Beauxbatons and I think that he’s 15…I’m not sure. I barely know a thing about him. He just asked me and I decided to go even if I didn’t want to.”

“Why wouldn’t you want to? Your first dance should be the time of your life!”

“I’d rather just stay up in my dormitory and read the latest copy of the Quibbler. Daddy’s written this one article about the medicinal remedies of Nargle venom…

Neville had looked up at Luna at the mention of the odd word “Quibbler”. He couldn’t explain why this dainty, obviously crazy, girl was so entrancing but he couldn’t take his eyes off of her and he hung on her every word.

“Hey Loony!” Luna turned at the sound of her familiar nickname and saw that Matthew Turner had finally arrived. “C’mon!” Matthew had a big, goofy grin on his face. Luna was glad that he was enjoying himself. He grabbed her arm a quickly steered her through the doors. 

“Goodbye Ginny,” said Luna. Matthew kept tugging at her arm and finally got her moving. “And goodbye Neville!” She practically yelled his name because they were disappearing fast into the sea of chattering students.

“Bye.” Neville couldn’t make it louder than a whisper as he stared at the place where Matthew had pulled Luna in between a pair of sixth years.  
“Bye Luna!” Ginny called as she waved at her friend from over the sixth years. “Um…Neville?” Ginny asked, for he was still looking in the direction that Luna disappeared. “We should probably get in there or all the tables will be taken.”

She was right. All of the students were now pushing and shoving to get into the Great Hall so that they could see the grand entrance of the four Tri-Wizard Champions. “Yes, right. Sorry.” Neville finally turned his eyes to Ginny. She looked slightly and surprisingly smug. Neville blushed and grabbed her hand. As he pulled her towards the table at the very front of the Hall he had to keep reminding himself that he was there to impress Ginny, not Luna Lovegood.


	5. Not the Best Dancer

Neville sat at the table with Ginny on his left as the feast began, staring up at the huge Christmas trees adorned with large baubles and sparkling frost. There was only room at the very front table with a few Hufflepuffs in Neville’s year: Ernie Macmillan with Hannah Abbott, and Susan Bones with Justin Finch-Fletchey. They were eyeing him and Ginny warily, as if Neville would topple the table over at any moment (which he had done on several occasions).

After the feast the four champions went out onto the dance floor and took the position for the waltz. As the slow music started Neville saw Harry’s face turn a bit pink as he ungracefully tried to spin Parvati but just ended up nearly tripping over the long hem of her pink gown. She had glared at him as he regained his balance and other couples were invited to join the dance. 

“Um…Ginny?” Neville asked, turning to face his date who was still focusing finishing her dessert. She looked up at him with her mouth still full of cake and she swallowed hard before answering.

“Yes?”

“Do you wanna dance?” The words were much easier for him to say to Ginny than if he were to ask a certain blond acquaintance that shall remain nameless.

“OK!” Ginny answered brightly. She looked happy to be out from under the gaze of the scrutinizing Hufflepuffs as he led her out to the edge of the floor, which was getting very crowded with all of the pairs of people dancing. They awkwardly got into position and started to sway on the spot. It’s so much easier to waltz if your partner is made of air, Neville thought as they eventually moved their feet to the timing of the music.

After a few minutes Neville noticed Ginny’s face pinching up as if in pain. He looked down and realised why…

Through his new shoes Neville couldn’t tell that with almost every step they took he was treading all over Ginny’s feet! His face turned beet red when he caught something out of the corner of his eye. That Matthew guy who’d asked Luna to the ball was gliding with Luna at his side. His dancing was so graceful that Neville knew he could never duplicate it in a million years. As they passed Neville (who was staring at Matthew in disbelief and jealousy) and Ginny (who took Neville’s momentary distraction as a chance to rub her throbbing toes), Luna gave them a dreamy smile and waved before looking back into Matthew’s face as the turned elegantly further into the crowd.

Neville only thought one thing: Merlin, that guy was good! Neville could tell that most of the boys from Beauxbatons majored in Charms (not the magical kind if you catch my drift). 

“Can we sit down for a minute?” Ginny asked as the song ended and the band ‘The Weird Sisters’ took the stage to play a more upbeat song.

“Alright,” Neville said glumly. This night was not working out the way he thought it would at all. Ginny was having a horrible time. She was too polite to say so, but Neville knew it was true just the same. The bigger problem was that Neville did not expect to fall for a girl he barely knew! As he and Ginny sat down at the now vacant table and Ginny massaged her feet Neville could see Luna and her date now, sitting at their table. He was jabbering on about something and Luna was (to Neville’s relief and delight) looking rather bored with the topic of the conversation. 

“Ahem…uh…Excuse me?” Neville and Ginny looked up to see a tall dark Ravenclaw boy looking down at Ginny. Neville recognised him faintly. He was probably in Neville’s year.

“Yes?” asked Ginny, noticing that the question was directed at her not her date.

“Can I…er…Do you want to dance with me?” Ginny looked taken aback. Her eyes widened as she looked to Neville, he realised, for permission.

“Oh no, that’s fine, Ginny. I don’t mind…really.” He was trying to reassure her. He wanted her to have some fun(even if it wasn’t with him and it was with another boy).

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.” He sounded more sure than he felt. He wanted to tell her that he’d feel abandoned and alone if she left with this nigh stranger. But he was used to being the one who sacrificed his dignity for others. Why not for one of his best friends?

“Thanks, Neville!” Ginny jumped up and gave Neville a quick and thankful peck on the cheek before walking out onto the dance floor (which was much more empty) and started dancing to a slow song with the Ravenclaw boy.

Neville didn’t know what to do now that he didn’t really have a date anymore, so he shifted his eyes to the tiny blond girl in the dark blue dress that looked like she’d rather be talking to anyone other than her date.


	6. A Friend in Need

One good thing that came out of the evening was that Luna had come to a conclusion: Matthew Turner was narcissistic and self-absorbed. All he could talk about was what features of his face he got from his mother (who was apparently one quarter Veela) and how many girlfriends he’s had since he was ten. Not to mention the snide remarks about how he had to scrape the bottom of the proverbial barrel to find a date for the ball.

“I mean, my mother always said that the women would appreciate me more and they do other guys. But here at Hogwarts the girls seem to just ignore me and go for that Triwizard Champion Harry Potter. The Boy Who Lived.” He said the last bit with air quotes. “What does he have that I don’t? Other than fame and the fact that he defeated You-Know-Who when he could barely crawl. But I’m much better looking…”

Luna sighed and leaned down to rest her chin in her right hand. This was getting quite boring. Matthew Turner was not the type of boy she would like to spend time with. He was very attractive and he was a good dancer (which made up for Luna’s lack of skills in that area), but he couldn’t listen to a thing other people said. When she tried to warn him of the Wrackspurts that were so obviously residing in his head, he’d scoffed and told her that she was being loony as usual. She wasn’t surprised that her popular nickname had rubbed off on him.

As she looked around the hall at the people at different tables, she noticed two Hufflepuff girls sitting near the very front waving in Luna’s general direction and yelling Matthew’s name over and over to try and get his attention. She noticed that their dates were not looking to happy with the turn of events and sat with their arms crossed and sour looks on their faces.

Luna then turned her head a little to the left and noticed a familiar face. Neville Longbottom was sitting at the back of their table looking quite upset. Luna saw that he, also, was staring in their direction; though she was fairly certain he was not looking at Matthew. When their eyes met his cheeks flushed and he stared at his hands in his lap. 

Luna also noticed that Ginny was not sitting with him, but dancing with a Ravenclaw boy Luna knew to be Michael Corner (one of the more quiet boys in her house, but who still took the time to bully her). Luna felt the need to cheer up her new friend but she couldn’t just leave her date to ramble on to the remains of his dessert pudding. Luna then got an idea!

“Ummm, Matthew?” she asked, interrupting his long monologue about his impressive bone structure. “I think those girls over there would like to speak with you.” She gestured towards the two Hufflepuffs, now delighted that their quarry had finally noticed their presence.

“By all means,” he said jovially, “invite them over!” He waved her away to invite the girls to their table. Luna gladly got up and began walking towards the table near the front. As she approached she noticed Neville’s face get even redder and he stared at his feet scuffing across the floor. It was kind of cute how he pretended to ignore her.

“Hello,” Luna greeted the two girls who looked less than enthusiastic to see her. “I’m Luna Lovegood and my date would like to know if you two would like to join him for a shallow, egotistic conversation.” Luna liked to be completely honest with people.

“OK!” the girls exclaimed. They ditched their dates as they practically flew over to Matthew. The Hufflepuff boys quickly got up and ran straight out of the hall. Luna guessed that they did not want to be at the ball as much Nargles want to infest a fresh clove of mistletoe.

This left Neville being the last person sitting at the table, face still red and eyes still averted. She sat down at the chair on his right side and scooched a tad closer to him. He finally looked up at her and gave her a shy smile.

“Why are you sitting all by yourself?” she asked.

“Why’d you leave your date to talk with me?”

“I asked you first.” Determination was clear as crystal in her eyes as she stared him down.

“Well, it’s kind of obvious, isn’t it?” Neville grumbled, dropping his gaze to his lap again and gesturing with his hand to Ginny and Michael still dancing. She looked like she was having a good time; Luna was glad for that. But Neville was quite dismayedwith these events so Ginny’s happiness took a backseat for the moment. “Ginny can’t have a good time with a loser like me so I guess I should let her have fun with another guy, even if it makes me miserable.”  
“You’re not a loser, Neville.”

“Oh yes I am. I’m not good at anything! I’m barely passing my classes, I always forget and misplace things, I’m not popular-”

“Stop right there, Neville Longbottom!” Luna snapped. Her wide, grey-blue eyes turned ice cold as she stared into his deep blue ones. Neville almost cringed away from the intensity of her voice. “I don’t know you very well, but I know what a loser is, and you’re not one! He’s the real loser.” She jerked her thumb over to the table with Matthew and the Hufflepuffs as they stared, glassy-eyed, into his flawless face. “And I know you’re not the best in school, but I know you do really well in Herbology and-”

“How’d you know I was good in Herbology?” Neville asked rather quietly as he started scuffing his shoes faster against the floor, now in time with the fast song the Weird Sisters had struck up.

“Because I’ve seen you around the school. You’re always reading Herbology books and you’re constantly going over to the greenhouses to help out Professor Sprout. She speaks quite highly of you, you know.”

“I didn’t think anyone noticed me…” 

“I did.”

Neville’s face turned deep crimson at her statement and he gave her a glowing smile. Luna had never seen him really smile before…she liked it very much.  
“Thanks, Luna. For cheering me up.”

“That’s what friends are for, right?” Luna asked tentatively.

“Right, I guess,” Neville responded awkwardly.

A long silence followed as they both looked off in different directions, each absorbed in their own thoughts.

Luna was staring at Ginny, now sitting and laughing with Michael at something he’d just said. Luna felt an overwhelming sense of annoyance towards her friend.  
Her eyes darted towards Neville who, thankfully, was not looking her way; then they flicked back to Ginny who was laughing harder still. Did she not know how insecure she made Neville feel? Did she not value his friendship more than a good time? Apparently not because she’d left him easily to join another boy because she wasn’t having the best time with Neville. Neville, though, was so sweet about letting her go and have fun. He would rather not have fun and make sure his friend was having a good time. He was such a gentleman and Ginny didn’t even notice.

Neville was looking across the hall at Matthew Turner who was now letting girls get up and kiss him in turn. Neville was extremely happy that Matthew had messed up this badly, but he was also worried that Luna had gotten her feelings hurt…

“Um, Luna?” he asked gently, pulling her out of her reverie as her wide eyes turned to him. “You’re OK with him not – er – treating you…I mean-”

“I know what you mean Neville,” Luna sighed as she stared up at the ceiling, with light puffs of snow floating down towards them but never getting close enough to touch them. “I really don’t mind one bit. I’d much rather spend time with you than Matthew.”

“Really?” Neville’s stomach did a full backflip.

“Really.”

After a few more moments of silence, Neville spoke up. “Er…do you want to – um – take a walk?”

“Oh yes, I’d like to!” Luna hopped up from her seat with Neville following closely behind. He was surprised when she gently took his hand and squeezed it before letting go. His stomach did another squirm.

Together they walked out of the Great Hall…but someone was following them.


	7. A Bit More Human

Neville didn’t know what to do. As they turned out of the Great Hall; away from the booming music and boisterous laughter within, a sudden realisation came to him. He was walking alone with the kindest, prettiest, most unique and wonderful girl he’d ever met and he didn’t know what to say. This didn’t really surprise him since he normally wasn’t very good at talking to people at all (much less pretty girls). What could he talk about? The weather? Yeah…that’d be really interesting. What about those peculiar earrings she was wearing that looked like they were made of radishes? No…blokes don’t talk about jewelry (not even with girls). What about her oddly brilliant dress and how beautiful she looked in it? Definitely not! Neville felt like he was going to throw up just thinking about that particular conversation starter. But when he felt Luna halt by his sideand saw her turn he followed in suit. What awaited him was one of the people he wanted to see the least.

Matthew Turner was running behind them panting with a light sheen of sweat on his brow. His dress robes were a tad ruffled. Neville liked seeing his imperfect appearance.

“Oh, hello Matthew,” said Luna serenely. “Were you getting tired of those clingy girls?”

“I was wondering where you’d ran off to!” Matthew was panting as if he’d run a marathon. Neville got the impression that stalking them was the most physical exertion he’d done in the past five years. “Why’d you ditch?”

“Because you weren’t paying attention to me,” said Luna simply. “So I went to sit with my new friend Neville.” She gestured her hand up and down towards Neville as he blushed and met Matthew’s gaze. He looked quite put out. “He looked rather distraught and I wanted to cheer him up.”

“Listen,” began Matthew. Neville could tell that he was about to turn on the old charm to lure Luna back to the Great Hall which would leave him alone in the halls, standing there like an idiot. “I’m really sorry that I haven’t paid you enough attention tonight. I was just catching up with some girls I met a few days ago. But I did realise that you’d left, didn’t I?” When Luna didn’t respond except to give him an icy glare, Matthew cleared his throat and continued. “Why don’t you come back into the Great Hall?” His eyes went wide and adoring. Luna’s icy eyes turned to puddles as Neville averted his gaze to his now-scuffed dancing shoes. Here it comes, Neville thought.

“It’s alright Matthew. I’ll come. Neville?” Neville’s head popped up at his name and turned to Luna’s wide, tender eyes. “D’you want to come with us?”And see Ginny and Luna having the time of their lives with their new boyfriends? No way. 

“No thanks. I’ll just stay out here.” Neville was almost inaudible as he said this, looking at the aglets of his shoelaces. He was so humiliated. Now two girls have ditched him for other guys in one night! But he wasn’t enough of a man to stand up for himself and say what was really on his mind. If he was being logical he would tell himself that he wasn’t really a man anyways; given the fact that he was only fourteen. But that didn’t excuse him from acting like a wimp 24/7! Neville was about to say something when Matthew interrupted his thoughts. 

“Well, if you’re done mumbling to yourself we’ll be off.” Neville just realised that he’d been thinking aloud to himself. Wow. If he hadn’t shown Luna how much of a loser he was before now, that definitely would’ve. He blushed for about the fiftieth time that night as he stared at Luna’s slight, fragile, retreating figure. She had kept her eyes on Neville and was still staring at him over her shoulder. Her countenance showed concern…maybe even something else, but Neville wouldn’t allow his thoughts to go further than concern.

As she finally turned her face towards Matthew again he whispered something in her ear. Neville got sick just looking at them. They really did look quite cute together. Neville was about to turn on his heel and retreat to Gryffindor’s common room when he noticed something flash in Luna’s eyes he hadn’t seen before as she looked at Matthew: hate, fire, loathing.

Luna took slow, deliberate steps backwards towards Neville; not turning her body from Matthew. Neville wondered what he’d said that made her react this way. “Don’t you ever,” she began as she stopped when she reached Neville’s right side. “Don’t you ever say anything like that ever again!” Now she was acting much more rough and edgy, like she actually had human feelings.Neville was a bit frightened of this side of Luna, but at the same time he loved this side of her. 

“You know?” she continued “I was going to give you another chance because you seemed genuinely sorry and because I like to try to be as forgiving as possible, but you’ve shown me time and time again that you don’t care about anybody but yourself! Calling me Loony and ignoring me tonight I didn’t really care about, but insulting him-” Neville jumped away from her hand as she jerked her thumb in his direction, afraid that she might lash out against him next. “-simply because you think it’s funny? That’s where I draw the line.” Matthew backed up as Luna reached under her feathery skirt, pulled out her wand and pointed it at Matthew. This didn’t really surprise Neville because he was under the impression that this girl did much more odd things than somehow hide her wand in her dress. “You don’t know a thing about him.” Neville found this ironic because Luna barely knew anything about him, either. But it was weird. As they were talking in the Great Hall he felt a sort of “kindred spirit” thing going on between them. Maybe she felt it too…

“What?” asked Matthew in an oddly high-pitched voice as he eyed Luna’s wand tip pointed squarely at his nose. “I was only saying the truth!” He turned his eyes to Neville pleadingly. “I mean, you’d agree if I said that you weren’t the brightest-”

“Petrificus Totalus!” Luna yelled. Neville scrambled backwards as Matthew’s body crashed to the floor, face-first, at Neville’s feet. Neville stared wide-eyed at Luna. Her eyes were still on Matthew’s motionless body and they were now glittering not, Neville realised, with malice anymore.

After they both watched Matthew for a long time; Luna sniffed, took a deep breath and said “Come on Neville.” She grasped his hand and quickly walked down the corridor. Neville didn’t take his eyes off of Matthew or start walking until he felt Luna tug on his hand. He had to lean down and slightly stumble down the corridor tokeep up with her quick pace.

As Neville looked down at their intertwined fingers he felt a lurch of nervousness in the pit of his stomach. He wondered if Luna felt the same way. She did stick up for him back there. But then again, a lot of his friends would’ve. But none of them would hex his bullies for him, he didn’t think. And why had she been crying? Did she have something to hide?


	8. The Dark Deserted Corridor

“Luna! Slow down!” Neville firmly planted his feet on the hard stone floor to stop Luna from retreating into the dark corridor any farther. Luna slightly lost her balance stumbling forwards until she regained her balance and stood stock-still, staring bleary-eyed out of one of the few windows that ran along the shadowy hallway. It cast a rectangle of blue-ish light on the wall opposite. Neville had sat down and leaned against the wall underneath the light so that he was facing Luna’s back. He didn’t know what to do, yet again, so he decided to just wait for her to explain what happened with Matthew and why she’d been crying.

The two friends stayed this way for a few minutes until Luna slowly turned around to face Neville. As she did so, Neville was somewhat entranced by the way the moonlight hit her wavy hair and made it shimmer with an even brighter shade of blond. He could also see where tears still clung to her eyelashes. Noticing these little things made Neville’s insides squirm, partly because he was embarrassed that he’d notice such things on a girl and partly because he didn’t know what to do about these feelings.

“I’m so sorry, Neville,” she whispered, sitting down next to him and facing him with an apologetic expression.  
“For what?” Neville hated how clueless he sounded to her.

“For the horrible time you must be having tonight.”

“What? Why would you feel sorry about how I feel? I’m used to it.”

“That’s the problem.” Luna’s light, airy voice became hard as she stared up at the ceiling, taking deep breaths as she tried not to start crying again. “You’re used to being pushed around. You let Ginny ditch you. You let Matthew insult you-”

“Actually, I didn’t really hear what Matthew said about me,” said Neville truthfully. “You hexed him before I could get a word in edgewise.”

At this Luna gave a tiny grin. In the dark of the night her white teeth shone in what little light was streaming through the windows. Then Luna’s face fell and she went back to staring at the ceiling. “You don’t deserve to be bullied, Neville.”

“Neither do you. I don’t know why people would call you Loony!”

“You haven’t heard me talk about Wrackspurts yet.” Luna gave a light, melancholy chuckle to herself.

“I haven’t heard of those! They sound fascinating!” Neville was being completely serious, as Luna could tell as she rolled her head around to catch his expression.  
“Well, they’re tiny creatures that fly into your ears and make your brain go all fuzzy. You know, so you can’t really focus or so that you become closed-minded. Daddy taught me how to be able to see them in other people’s heads. Matthew had quite a lot.” She giggled.

“Do I have any?” Neville asked anxiously.

Luna gave a small smile before shaking her head. “Not one. You really don’t think I’m mad for believing in these things?”

“No, I think it’s brilliant!” Neville looked very excited to hear what else she had to say, but this confused Luna.

“Why are you so nice to me?” She asked, staring at her bent knees with her feet flat on the floor. “Nobody has ever taken even the slightest interest in what I believe before I met you.”

“Because I care about you, Luna.” The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. Neville inwardly thanked Merlin that the corridor was so dark, so that Luna wouldn’t see his face burn with embarrassment. As he stared at his folded hands he saw one of her pale, tiny ones reaching forwards to grab his. Neville was still amazed at how forward this girl was with everything she did. She never sugar-coated anything for anyone. How she showed her feelings without regret. Neville wished that he could act that way…

Luna eventually scooched closer to Neville until she was right next to him. Shesighed as she lightly rested her head on his shoulder.She was scaring herself, really, about how comfortable she felt around this boy she’d met only hours earlier. Still, she’d pretty much known Matthew for longer and look where that got her: losing her cool and hexing him. But it wasn’t like she’d hexed him for no reason whatsoever, she’d been provoked. And Matthew wasn’t even insulting her, he’d insulted Neville. She was still unaware of why that had bothered her so much; why she had hexed for a boy she’d only just met. But yet she felt as if she already knew him. She felt that he was one of the only people she could be herself around. He understood her better than most people she’d known for years. There was only one way Luna could describe her feelings for Neville: they were positive feelings. Soon her thoughts began to drift elsewhere…

They sat comfortably like that in the dark, deserted corridor for a very long time. Neville could feel the music from the Great Hall pulsing through the walls on his back, still leaning against one. Neville was wondering why his hand wasn’t sweating after ten minutes of holding Luna’s hand and Luna was thinking about the loud music attracting Crumple-Horned Snorkacks when they heard voices coming from two silhouettes at the far end of the hall. Their voices bounced along the walls to Neville and Luna so that they seemed magnified.

“Come back to the Hall, Draco!” Neville recognised the high-pitched, whiny voice of Pansy Parkinson immediately and easily since she’d teased him countless times over the past four years. “I wanna go dance!”

“You go on ahead,” Draco’s drawl reassured her. “I just – uh – need to check on something for – er – a few minutes, alright?”

“OK! Hurry back!” Pansy squealed as she practically skipped around the corner. Neville saw Draco’s outline look around suspiciously, he then started to lurk down the passage towards them, head hung low and rummaging in his pockets for something. Neville realised that Draco must not have seen the pair of them sitting there and knew that it was too late for them to move.

“Stay still,” Neville whispered to Luna as Draco’s shadow drew nearer. At this Luna sat up and lifted her head off of Neville’s shoulder to see Draco more clearly. At the angle the light was hitting the wall above them it was nearly impossible to see them sitting still as statues.

Finally, when Draco was very near to them, he retrieved what he was looking for from the pocket of his dress robes. It was small, round, shiny and; Neville couldn’t be too sure of the colour; light green. Luna sucked in a breath as Draco passed them. He was running his long fingers over the smooth texture of the round shiny thing, murmuring too it. Things like “-my only love-”, “-they’ll never understand-” and “-I just can’t resist,” before taking a large, succulent bite of, what Neville and Luna now both realised to be, the apple. They heard Draco’s savouring noises all the way down the hall before he finally turned left.

A few minutes passed before Luna finally looked up at Neville. As soon as their eyes met laughter ensued. They laughed long and hard over what they had just witnessed and, after catching their breath and wiping the tears from their eyes, they solemnly swore not to tell another soul about what they saw.

Suddenly the light from the window clouded over so that they were thrown into almost complete darkness. Luna got up and skipped over to the window to see what was going on.

“Oooh, look Neville! It’s snowing!” Why Luna was so enthralled with this phenomenon, Neville didn’t know.  
“Yeah, Luna,” he said jokingly. “That usually happens this time of year.”

“We should go outside,” said Luna matter-of-factly as she grabbed Neville’s hand and pulled him towards a door at the other end of the hall that led to the courtyard.

If anyone else had suggested that Neville should spend some time in below-freezing weather simply because they thought he ought to, Neville would’ve declined. But this was Luna, the one with happy little surprises and the one he wanted to spend as much time with as possible. Right now, the only person he’d step out of his comfort zone for was her.


	9. Infinite

The weather fluctuations that night astounded Neville. Thought the temperature mimicked the first day of fall, snow was still lightly and silently falling out in the courtyard. The huge oak front doors of the castle were swung wide, causing the yellow light from the Great Hall to spill out onto the cobble-stoned ground so that they were not completely covered in darkness.

Luna, though she still had him in tow, paid Neville no mind as they made their way to the middle of the courtyard. She was too busy staring up at the murky blue-black sky where the snow cast little pinpoints of bright spots in the dark. The snow did not accumulate at their feet; rather it melted just as it hit the ground. Luna smiled up at the sky, let go of Neville’s hand and started spinning around. She closed her eyes, lifted her arms up and stuck out her tongue to catch snowflakes. Every now and then she’d give a little giggle when a cold snowflake melted on the tip of her tongue, completely immersed by the magic and beauty of the night.

Neville stood there awkwardly, watching her. Perplexed yet thoroughly mesmerised by her pale figure in the dark; she looked as though she radiated light and something else…bliss. He’d never seen anyone so in love with life before. She was showing him a new kind of magic that he’d never truly experienced before. She let all the insults roll of her back as if none of it affected her in the slightest. She stood up for the people she cared about; their run-in with Matthew Turner confirmed that. She was lovely. She was bold.

She was infinite.

“Neville?” asked Luna, who’d caught him staring at her, or rather staring past her, lost in thought. “What were you thinking about?” 

“You,” he answered truthfully. “I wish I could be more like you. You don’t let anything anyone says about you affect how you think of yourself. How do you do that?”

“I just remind myself that they don’t know me, or who I really am. Not many people do…”

“I want to.”

Luna smiled up at him in response. She could not see how this boy couldn’t see how wonderful he was. How kind, honest and brave he could be. “I am so glad I know you, Neville Longbottom.”

“Me too…but about you.”

A slightly magnified voice sounded from inside the Great Hall, announcing that the final song will be played before everyone must return to their dormitories. Some light, slow, instrumental music drifted out the doors and into the courtyard, surrounding the two friends. The music mirrored Neville’s mood precisely: happyand confident. He saw that Luna was enjoying the song too, swaying with her far-off smile on her face, as if the music transported her to another world of sorts. Then suddenly her eyes locked onto Neville’s with a vibrant enthusiasm. The lively music played on as she grabbedhis hands and spun around. Neville spun with her, feeling the blissful magic of real ecstasy wrap around him like a warm blanket. They smiled across their hands at each other, feeling the music fill them up. Luna tilted her head back and laughed. It was an odd laugh, shrill and silly, but that’s what made it so wonderful to Neville.

One day he’d tell Luna Lovegood that he loved her, but not at that moment. Neville wanted that moment to last forever.


	10. Epilogue - 3 Years Later

Hogwarts lay in ruins. The battle that had raged on had left the towers crumbled, the students shaken, and the villains vanquished. Once Harry had defeated Voldemort, the victors regrouped and recuperated in the Great Hall. Congratulations were exchanged, and tears were shed for those lives lost: Fred Weasley, Remus and Tonks, Snape, Colin Creevey and countless others. The devastation was great, but victory was even greater.

Faint music played over two figures in the ruined courtyard. No one else could hear it but they two, as the impact of the battle hit them like the Hogwarts Express at full throttle.

She ran to him, into his outstretched arms. She sobbed and held onto him tightly, making sure he was real, alive.  
He too held her firmly. He felt immense comfort simply with her presence. All of the brokenness he’d accumulated over the past year seemed to mend with her embrace. 

She stepped back to take in his appearance. He was bloody, bruised, broken; but she’d never seen anything less wonderful in her life.

He looked down at her, smiling. Knowing that his feelings were true. Taking her hand, he spoke the words he’d been burning to say for three years:

“I love you,” said Neville.

She smiled back up at him. With tears silently streaming down her face she squeezed his hand back.

“I know,” said Luna.

They simultaneously started swaying on the spot, in time with the sweet slow song playing just for them. Dancing to their song that played at the Yule Ball.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking with this all the way! Feel free to berate me for how stuck-up and unlikable I made my OC Matthew back when I was 15. Anyway! Hope you enjoyed!


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